A Fight For The Block
THE REDFERN BLOCK SITS ON PRIME REAL ESTATE, BUT IT ALSO LIES WITHIN THE LANDS OF THE GADIGAL PEOPLE OF THE DHARUG NATION. ONE OF THE FIRST PIECES OF LAND OWNED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S IN WHITE AUSTRALIA, THE PUBLIC HOUSING IS NOW BEING CONSIDERED FOR REDEVELOPMENT. ARABELLA PETERSON LOOKS AT ITS SIGNIFICANCE AND HISTORY.
Beneath Redfern Gym’s famous mural of the Aboriginal Australian flag lies the Block. The first urban Indigenous community housing provider remains a cultural landmark, but now stands in the path of major development.
The tumultuous past of the Block has been a combination of joy and tragedy. In the early 1970s, many local landlords campaigned for the eviction of all Indigenous residents. This sparked an assembly of local protestors, led by an activist who would later be the first Indigenous Australian judge, Bob Bellear. They successfully lobbied the Whitlam government for a grant, which allowed the Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) to begin acquiring dwellings from 1972. The area accommodated up to 100 households and was significant as an affordable source of low-cost housing for members of the Indigenous community.
In the 1980s, as Redfern industrialised, the Block shifted from a fundamentally ‘contemporary haven’ for Indigenous families to a stigmatised district. After years of being emaciated by poverty and low employment, discrimination, police brutality, hostile politicians and adverse media coverage, the Block changed. The Thomas Hickey tragedy, a case following the death of a 17-year-old Indigenous boy - led to the Redfern riots in 2004. The public image of the Block worsened, and a lot of the remaining housing was demolished that same year.
The Block rouses great sentimentality in many Indigenous Australians, viewed by the largely rural New South Wales Indigenous population as a communal space and spiritual home. This, along with the areas rich history, is part of why plans for commercial development have been met with resentment.
For 20 years, the AHC has developed extensive plans to rebuild the Block as a new and reasonably-priced borough for Indigenous Australians. These plans have now come to fruition in the form of the $70 million Pemulway Project. Central to this scheme, however, are elements that divide the community. What has caused concern is the commercial portion of the plans, which is to occupy a sizeable amount of the redevelopment, as well as the linchpin of the structure being a possible 14 stories of community housing.
Jenny Munro, Wiradjuri Elder and one of the founders of the AHC, believes that the plans for the development disregard the historical significance of the Block. “Our people consider this little piece of land iconic and sacred and sovereign. Iconic in that it was the first piece of land that we actually negotiated and purchased in our battle for recognition of our rights to our land.”
Named after the Indigenous man who led the resistance to the first white invaders in Sydney, the title ‘Pemulway Project’ has also caused debate. Some see this as an almost ironic affront to the legacy of Pemulway. “It’s an insult to the man who stood and defended land, not dispossessed his own people of land,” Munro continues.
Conversely, the plans for commercial development are seen by some as a positive move in the renewal of Redfern. A mass of prime real estate right in the centre of the now gentrifying Redfern and less than two kilometres from the CBD, the Block is perhaps the most valuable lot in Sydney. With the number of international students increasing, and university prices on a sharp incline, the demand for affordable student housing is at an all-time high. Sydney is Australia’s most costly city and one of the most expensive in the world. There is a clear struggle for local and international students to find reasonably priced accommodation within close proximity to the universities they attend.
Mick Mundine, the long-standing head of the AHC, says the government and banks in Australia are hesitant to provide money for affordable Indigenous housing. As a result, the development of the Block is to begin with the commercial development. He has made it clear that the AHC hopes to produce income from the retail spaces and use that money to invest in the second phase of the development, the Indigenous housing.
Many are sceptical as to whether this phase of the development will ever eventuate, leaving the Block a purely commercial zone. “It was created to provide housing and that’s what it should remain as, the other pie-in-the-sky plans about commercial development or student accommodation should really have never entered into this equation,” says Munro.
A tent embassy was established on the Block in May this year, with several of the original founders of the Aboriginal Housing Company and numerous former residents setting up camp in protest of the impending plans. There are approximately 20 people residing in the tent embassy currently and they have no plans to leave until the issue is resolved. “The people that are here are determined to maintain the embassy until the situation is resolved, until this madness about commercial shops on this site instead of houses stops and and we start talking about what we should be building here, houses for our community,” says Munro.
More than 150 people gathered at the tent embassy on July 7 to protest, fearing the bulldozing of the site was to start that day. Protestors scaled buildings to unfurl banners with slogans such as “Sovereignty never ceded”, and tensions flared between Mick Mundine and numerous Indigenous protestors. Protestors succeeded in bringing widespread attention to the cause and no bulldozers entered the site, however the future of the Block is still uncertain. Ms Munro maintains that protesting will continue until the Block is recognised as the hub of Indigenous Australian experience in Sydney. “I’d like to see housing so our people can come back here, I want to see the vision of the housing company go back to what it was, that this was a viable, sustainable, loving and nurturing community, what it was intended for.”